ECOSOC No. 11. Following two items were discussed at Monday meetings of the Economic and Social Council:

(a) Item 10 (Assembly Resolution on Reconstruction of Devastated Areas, including questions of establishment of Economic Committees for Europe and for the Far East, and survey of raw material resources).

(b) Item 12 (Assembly Resolution on relief needs after the termination of UNRRA. Report of the Secretary-General).

2. In discussion of Item 10 nearly every member of the Council made general statement of policy concerning the proposed Economic Commissions for Europe and for the Far East. All members expressed themselves in favour of immediate endorsement by the Council of the Assembly Resolution approving in principle the establishment of such Economic Commissions. Discussion at this meeting concerned only the Economic Commission for Europe since the report of the working group for Asia and the Far East was not yet ready for presentation to the Council.

3. In considering the method of establishing and the terms of reference of the Economic Commissions for Europe, discussion centred around the memorandum prepared by the Secretariat (E/284).† The United States and United Kingdom delegations were not in favour of a Preparatory Committee for the establishment of the Economic Commission for Europe such as was proposed in the Secretariat's memorandum.

4. Countries such as Lebanon, Chile and Peru expressed the wish that the terms of reference of the Economic Commission for Europe should be expanded to include areas outside Europe. They conceived of permanent regional commissions whose purpose would be to aid the industrial development of under-developed areas.

5. Dr. Davidson⁶⁴ made a statement in favour of establishing as soon as possible an Economic Commission for Europe, whose main task would be to deal with the urgent problems of economic rehabilitation and reconstruction in Europe. He indicated that this view had already been expressed by the Canadian Government at the last session of the Council and in the submission on Germany presented to the London meeting of Deputy Foreign Ministers. He described the Canadian interest in the establishment of such a Commission as two-fold. Canada's economic wellbeing is tied up with the level of prosperity of the rest of the world, and humanitarian considerations dictated that Canada should support this effort to restore the level of economic prosperity and security of Europe. Dr. Davidson advocated that the terms of reference drawn up by the Council should be subject to amendment only by the Council. He also advocated that the Council retain an open mind on the advisability of holding a Preparatory Committee. He opposed the expansion of the Commission's terms of reference to include areas outside Europe.

6. Dr. Davidson's statement is contained on pages 27 to 40 of E/PV/55.†

7. At the close of this debate the following Resolutions were put by the Chairman and accepted unanimously by the Council:

(a) That the Economic and Social Council should accept the recommendation of the General Assembly that the Council "give prompt and favourable consideration to the establishment of an Economic Commission for Europe."

(b) That the Economic and Social Council appoint a Committee to recommend the membership and terms of reference of the Economic Commission for Europe, taking into consideration the suggestions put forward by various Commissions and by the Secretary-General in his memorandum.

(c) That this Committee consist of the following members: Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, France, Lebanon, Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States and U.S.S.R. (The Chairman originally suggested a committee of six. At the suggestion of Peru, Chile was added, at the insistence of Turkey, Lebanon was added and the Chairman then himself added the Netherlands.)

8. In the consideration of Item 12 only the Soviet and the Czech delegates made statements. Both objected to alleged deficiencies and faults in the report of the special Technical Committee on Post-UNRRA Relief. They claimed that the calculations made by the Committee were mechanical calculations and were not based on the actual situation in many of the countries surveyed. On the proposal of the Chairman, the Council took note of the Committee's report along with the observations of the Soviet and Czech delegations.

⁶⁴George F. Davidson, sous-ministre de la Santé nationale et du Bien-être social.
Dr. George F. Davidson, Deputy Minister, Department of National Health and Welfare.